Leading Compassionate Care - a development programme for clinical nurse leaders

Programmes for Commissioners

Leading Compassionate Care - a development programme for clinical nurse leaders

The Florence Nightingale Foundation’s Leading Compassionate Care provides a space for senior clinical nurses to reflect, re-energise and refocus. The programme is short, focused and highly interactive. It has been especially designed to help participants explore how they can further improve the quality of care for frail older people in their care setting and how they can develop their leadership to enable this improvement to occur.

The facilitators skilfully create a learning environment that enables nurses to learn together and draw on their collective wisdom, insights and experiences. Participants are exposed to current thinking on leadership for quality improvement and supported to enhance their personal skills and effectiveness by engaging in leadership development interventions which are grounded in best practice and known to be effective.

The Foundation’s Leading Compassionate Care programme can be commissioned and provided locally. It can be delivered over 3-4 days depending on local requirements and scheduling is decided in collaboration with the commissioners. Participants say they found the programme re-invigorating, that it increased their confidence and competence to lead and helped them get back in touch with their core nursing values. All had made small but significant changes in their areas for the benefit of frail older people.

“As a result of being on this programme I have been able to look at myself as a leader within my organisation and look at ways of moving forward. I have become more assertive in my working environment in regards to empowering staff in embracing the 6Cs. I feel that I have gained a voice and I have used that voice in the best interest of my staff and patients“

“Discussions with the tutors and the workshops sparked a small flame inside of me, waking me up from the robotic individual I had developed into. I realised I had the skills but they needed to be revised and refreshed in order for me to do my work efficiently but with compassion and empathy. This programme was a valuable tool helping with my nursing leadership and managing the 6Cs.”

Leading Compassionate care is a low cost yet highly effective programme requiring minimal time away from the workplace. More than 120 nurses and their care settings have already benefited from this programme and another 200 are currently undertaking it. Should you wish to discuss commissioning the Foundation’s Leading Compassionate Care programme, please contact Professor Elizabeth Robb: